You Can Feel It When An API Evangelist Is The Real Deal

I had the pleasure of finally meeting someone in person, that I feel like I’ve known for years, while I was over in Australia, for API Days Sydney—Keran McKenzie (@keranm), API Evangelist for MYOBapi. I got to drink, and talk with Keran (finally), but more importantly I got to listen to him talk about his approach to evangelism at the accounting API.

I have given, and listened to more talks on evangelism and advocacy than I care to remember. I always work hard to make sure I sit and list to as many evangelism talks as I can—there is always something to learn. Keran's talk was informative, thorough, and most importantly it was genuine. Keran discussed many of the proven areas of evangelism we all share, but not in a robotic or corporate way, he shared his, and MYOB’s philosophy, and told the honest story about the challenges and triumphs.

Keran gives an energetic talk, but it wasn’t just the high energy that sold it for me, it was demonstrating that he actually gives a shit about how to do it right, admitting he doesn’t know everything, or nails it in all categories, and he gives an honest, friendly, approachable, and genuine story of what is API evangelism at MYOB.

This approach to API evangelism is critical to success. You won’t last long as an evangelist if you are full of shit, or the company behind you is, sorry—I’ve been in this position too many times. Don’t get me wrong, every API evangelist role is difficult, and full of compromises, challenges, and things that are out of your control—even in my world. In the end, the only thing you can do is be honest, genuine, and as transparent as you can, and never be afraid to tell you story like Keran does.